Hi,
If I have my aquarium lights turnd off for more than say 8 hours, my Cardinal Tetras loose all of their colour and look like they are about to die. They drift about the tank with the current, often ending up caught in plants and under rocks etc.

if they are ok during the time when the lights are on , i would say that they are fine. a lot of fish change their markings depending on light or stress etc.
if they dont act normally during the day they might be sick. also how much current do you have in the tank , it could be too strong for when the fish are sleeping

Depending on the lighting you have they will naturally change colour when the lights are off. Mine do swim around when there is other lights on in the room, I have never bothered to look when the room is in total darkness.

What else is in the tank?

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

The change in cardinal coloration is a natural reaction. It is called sleep. It is nothing to be concerned about. You should see my discus drift during the night, color change is substantial and they drift into odd positions.

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Cardinals undergo a fairly radical colour change in the dark. They are not the only fishes to do this - for example, Beckford's Pencil Fishes have horizontal stripes in daytime, but oblique, almost vertical stripes at night!

If they're in a room that's been totally dark during the night, and you suddenly expose them to light, you'll see their night time colours. They probably won't appreciate the shock though!

last night i went to look at my cardinal tetras when it was still dark. they were all almost completely colorless..it scared me to death!. when the light was shining in this morning they were all back to normal. good to know this is normal!

Posted 16-Aug-2006 21:42

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